Every year around the same time it always happens. The great FIFA vs PES debate. But I don’t concern myself with it anymore, I just play football games for the love of football games and be done with it.

IF there is to be any sort of football video game battle this year you would think that this would be the year where FIFA would finally pull away from the competition thanks to the introduction of the new game engine “frostbite” and also the addition of a single player campaign.

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Yes, a single player mode in a football game... like HALO, but without the Masterchief or guns.

"The Journey"

The Journey is the not so imaginatively named game mode where you take control of a player from Clapham, namely Alex Hunter who is currently going through his young adolescent life trying to make it as a footballer.

One thing leads to another and before you know it your plying your trade as a footballer at a Premiership club. That’s as far as I’m at liberty to discuss as I don’t want to give away absolutely any of the story because I think EA are on to a winner with this and its definitely a must play for football fans.

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What essentially you have is a character driven game mode which is broken down into three sections, games, training and cut scenes which look incredible.

The story seems a bit scripted and you get the feeling no matter what you do in the games and training sections the story will take you the way it was always going to go which is a shame but not too much of a hindrance as it gives the guys at EA something to improve on but for first time out its a well done from me.

Gamechanger: Alex Hunter

With the Journey being the newest mode for FIFA it seems that not much has changed everywhere else. The menus are slicker and load times are down again which is always welcome.

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You still have the Career mode which is great for veterans who have the time to play as either a player or manager and progress through season after season of simulated football league action. This is my favourite part of FIFA and always has been but with not much changing from FIFA 16 I chose to put my time into The Journey and also Ultimate Team.

Gameplay on the pitch whilst using the new frostbite engine does seem more fluid and having played every single FIFA game over the years extensively, I can see this one is the best one yet in terms of sharpness and overall aesthetics.

Improved animations offer a more rounded feel to the players movement and players facial expressions are now much more life-like instead of looking like being painted on.

On-pitch play is more physical this time round and it seems that the physically bigger and stronger players are now much harder to beat one on one.

The intelligence of your team mates may have improved but so has that of the defenders in the opposite team so don’t think that wee slide rule pass will work time after time.

The gameplay is improved

Another addition this year is a change to the set piece system which in my opinion works well sometimes but I think will take a lot of getting used to. In the past you directed the screen where you wanted the ball to go roughly which made for very little in the way of accuracy.

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Now we have the addition of a small target which is has a rubber band effect to a central point in the box.

So far my indirect free kicks have been much improved but the corners need more work. Direct free kicks are much the same as before with all manner of different stick pushing and button mashing to get the ball screaming into the top corner a la Payet.

I think FIFA 17 has made great improvements by adding The Journey and the new game engine offers new dynamism to the gameplay but nothing much else has changed.

Maybe EA like me feel that the career and Ultimate Team mode has gone as far as it can. However its still a strong offering from EA and I for one am not going to stop playing any time soon.